The North American Banding Council (NABC) is an independent group with
representation from ornithological and banding groups in the USA and
Canada. The NABC consists of 18 voting members, including one
representative appointed by each of the following organizations:
American Ornithologists' Union, Association of Field Ornithologists,
Cooper Ornithological Society, Colonial Waterbird Society, Eastern Bird
Banding Association, Inland Bird Banding Association, Ontario Bird
Banding Association, Raptor Research Foundation, Society of Canadian
Ornithologists, Western Bird Banding Association and Wilson
Ornithological Society; the National Waterfowl Council has been asked
to appoint one representative and one alternate from the United States
and one representative and one alternate from Canada, and the Western
Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network is to be asked to appoint one
representative and alternate. The NABC will designate four additional
members. These could reflect a need to balance avian groups (e.g.,
gamebirds, hummingbirds, shorebirds), or to insure suitable
representation. The directors of the Canadian and U. S. Bird Banding
offices will be nonvoting members of NABC.

The mission of the NABC is to increase skill levels of banders by
preparing and disseminating standardized training and study materials
and establishing standards of competence and ethics for banders and
trainers. The NABC's immediate objectives include the development of a
certification and evaluation program for banders by setting standards
for experience, knowledge, and skills that must be attained at each of
3 levels (Assistant, Permittee, and Trainer). These levels are separate
from the subpermit and master permit distinction in the BBL; a
subpermitee could be certified by the NABC at any level depending on
their skills. While certification will not be a requirement for a
banding permit from this office, it will help to demonstrate the skill
level of the applicant. Additional goals are to produce and update
training materials, including a North American Bander's Study Guide and
a North American Banding Syllabus for trainers; to provide specialized
training information applicable to specific groups of birds (e.g.,
passerines, raptors, waterfowl, etc.); to identify and certify an
initial pool of trainers; and to encourage cooperative efforts in the
use of banding in the study and conservation of North American birds.

The Bird Banding Laboratory participates in the NABC in a nonvoting
capacity, and we support the NABC and its goals. The NABC last met
before the joint ornithological meeting in St. Louis in early April.

2. The NEW Pyle is OUT!

The Identification Guide to North American Birds: Part 1 by
Peter Pyle and cooperators (hereafter, the new Pyle) is out! This
landmark volume is much more than a revision of The Identification
Guide to North American Passerines. The new guide is expanded to
include pigeons and doves; cuckoos, roadrunners and anis; owls;
nightjars; hummingbirds and swifts; trogons; kingfishers and
woodpeckers as well as revisions of the passerine information. New
material has been added, including (but not limited to) information on
subspecies and subspecific variation and bar graphs showing acceptable
age-sex codes by month.

The new Pyle guide is intended to replace the existing keys in the
North American Bird Banding Manual (NABBM), V. 2 for all species that
are included in the new Pyle. All use of other, older information (e.g.
Wood's Manual and Pyle et.al.) should be discontinued immediately.
Banders should purchase and use the new Pyle as the primary reference
to ageing and sexing all species in the new Pyle in North America.
Banders may continue to use the North American Bird Banding Manual V. 2
during the transition period, except for Summer Tanager and Common
Yellowthroat keys. The new Pyle represents the opportunity for banders
to have a common reference, and we are sure that the benefits this
represents will make all the effort needed to learn to use this book
worthwhile.

We expect that there will be some transition time for banders to learn
to use the new Pyle, and encourage state and regional banding meetings
to include sessions on how to use the new guide in their next meetings.
Please keep an open mind about the guide, it is not that difficult to
use once you spend some time with it! Read the section Directions
for Use carefully, and learn to interpret the bar graphs before
using this book in the field. All banders will find that it will take
some time to learn to use this book correctly, but the effort will be
well worthwhile. For information on the importance of precise ages in
survival analysis, see the MAPS program information. All banders are
strongly encouraged to purchase and use the new guide. For those who
have never been through a major change in banding techniques like the
advent of skulling or the original appearance of the dichotomous keys
in Volume 2 of the Banding Manual, please have patience learning to use
the new guide, and by all means seek out banders who are using the
guide and ask for assistance.

The BBL will not query banders about species that are not aged as
precisely as possible during the transition. It is very important
to not guess at ages and sexes. AHY is not incorrect when SY and
ASY are allowed; but it is not as informative. During the transition
and learning period banders should do their best to learn to use this
guide but should not feel pressured to identify every individual bird
using Pyle as their sole source. As banders absorb the large amount of
new information present in this guide, we expect that some characters
will be found less useful than was thought at the time of publication,
and others will be found to be reliable. This guide represents one
uniform starting point for all banders, and banders are asked to
contribute to the next edition by publishing information on ageing and
sexing criteria in the relevant journals or by writing to the author or
BBL.

Please note that acceptance of specific age codes is only for those
techniques in the new book, and does not necessarily indicate
acceptance of other techniques. Banders may continue to use
peer-reviewed information in the major journals as it is published in
addition to the new Pyle. Errata can be found online at
http://www.igc.org/prbo/Errata.html. Additions and corrections for the
new guide can be sent to the BBL, and will be forwarded to Peter as
well. Your contributions are important! State agencies may continue to
use the dove key in NABBM, Volume II until advised otherwise.

We regret that we can not supply this book to banders as we have
supplied the North American Bird Banding Manual in the past. We hope
that the additional information in the new Pyle will offset the added
expense to banders. The cost of the new Pyle can be reduced by up to
30% by ordering in quantity, so gather up all the banders you know to
place an order, or check with your state or regional banding
associations to see if they are placing a group order.

The new book is $34.90; $39.90 with shipping and handling (plus tax
for California residents). An order of 12 books includes a 30%
discount. This book can not be ordered from the BBL! To order,
contact Slate Creek Press at P.O. Box 219, Bolinas CA 94924 or call
(415) 868-1221 extension 51.

Congratulations to Peter on this new book! We note that this is just
Part 1, and we look forward to Part 2 in a few years.

3. The North American Bird Banding Program:
Into the 21st Century

The North American Bird Banding Program has for many years been
jointly administered by the Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) at the
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, and the Canadian
Bird Banding Office at Hull, Quebec. In 1993, BBL was transferred from
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to what is now the Biological
Resources Division (BRD) of the U.S. Geological Survey. This transfer
prompted BRD to commission a review of the operations of BBL and the
broader banding program. The review was announced in MTAB 78, October,
1995. The review was conducted by a distinguished panel of experts, all
of whom had experience with the banding program. Their final report,
THE NORTH AMERICAN BIRD BANDING PROGRAM; INTO THE 21ST CENTURY, is now
available for public distribution. You can access the report
electronically at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/resources/nabbpcvr.htm
or contact BBL for a hard copy.

We commend the panel for their work. An interagency team has been
formed to guide the implementation of the Report, and several task
forces are addressing specific recommendations of the Report. While it
is not expected that all of the Report's recommendations will be
implemented either in entirety or exactitude, one can expect
significant changes in the operations of BBL and the banding program,
especially in the area of electronic data management.

Comments, questions and suggestions on the Report and its
recommendations can be sent to John Tautin, Chief, Bird Banding
Laboratory, 12100 Beech Forest Road, Laurel, MD 20708- 4037 or e-mail
John_Tautin@usgs.gov.

4. 1-800-327-BAND

Public use of our toll-free telephone number continues to expand. Last
year a record 76,000 bands were reported to us, with over 50% reported
via the 1-800 number. So far this year about 70% of all band recoveries
have been reported via the 1-800 number. Most reports have been of
banded ducks and geese taken during hunting seasons, but reports of
nongame birds are also coming in. We expect both total numbers of
recoveries and the proportion coming via the 1-800 number to increase
as we continue to expand the 1-800 project. As announced in MTAB 81
(August, 1997), we plan to have all bands eventually carry the 1-800
number.

5. New Homepage

The BBL has launched a new homepage at
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl;
this includes the draft version of the manual, longevity records, a
band size/type table by prefix, information on banding and marking
birds, and a host of other goodies! Stop by and browse, and please send
photos, suggestions, and comments to Mary Gustafson. We'd like to
include a link to your banding pages, so if we've missed you please let
us know!

6. Change in e-mail and server addresses

All the e-mail addresses at the BBL that were included in the last
MTAB are changing from @nbs.gov to @usgs.gov. A similar change is
occurring in server addresses. Currently, the old address should still
work, however the new server address will be:
ftp://ftp.mp1-
pwrc.usgs.gov (NOTE MP and NUMERAL 1) - NOT MPL. [ftp server no longer available, link removed 2004]

1. The codes for Other Hybrid Duck and Other Hybrid Goose are being
added to make it easier for waterfowl banders to report hybrid
waterfowl. The banding of these hybrids has been discouraged in
preseason banding in the past. The addition of these codes should not
be interpreted as a change in policy. These codes should not be used
for Mallard X American Black Duck or Snow X Ross's Goose hybrids, which
have species codes already assigned. Hybrids with domestic waterfowl
should never be banded with federal bands. Banders should
indicate suspected parental species in the remarks.

2. Banders should indicate the suspected parental species for all
codes where "Hybrid" appears first in the name. For example,
Hybrid Sapsucker can include hybrids of all 4 sapsucker species, so the
parental species need to be indicated in the remarks.

Direct questions and comments on alpha codes, species numbers and band
sizes to Mary Gustafson.

8. New Band Type and Why Reported Codes

We have assigned a new "why reported" code of 06 for all
encounters called in to the 1-800 number. This code has been used for
all of these reports. We have added band type 92 for an experimental
band for use on frigatebirds. This band is a wire ring with a band
number only (no address), much like a parrot importation band. This
type may have use for other birds in the future. We have added type 93
for plasticine-filled duckling bands.

Ensure that appropriate permittee name is entered on banding
schedules.

Include only continuous bands used on a banding schedule, if
there is a split (records not yet used or previously submitted)
please prepare a new banding schedule accordingly.

If you are unsure of how to complete a banding schedule contact
your master permittee or refer to the BBM, Vol. I, Part 4-5. If
there are still uncertainties, contact the BBL, Karen Jones,
301-497-5794 or e-mail: Karen_Jones@usgs.gov.

10. Band Supply/Issue

Waterfowl banders have inquired about exchanging old bands for 1-800
bands. We want banders to convert to using 1-800 bands, but we are
currently out of 1-800 bands in several larger sizes. Thus, we
recommend that banders retain old bands until we can assure a supply of
1-800 bands. We have approximately 1.5 million bands on order from
manufacturers, and we expect to have waterfowl sizes in stock by early
summer.

Please carefully check bands upon receipt to ensure that the bands
contained in the envelope correspond to the band span printed on the
outside of the envelope. Also, check for duplicate bands. We have
encountered several problems with our band manufacturer issues and
packaging. Please notify us as soon as possible if these errors occur.
Thank you for your cooperation in regard to these matters. Please
return unneeded bands for reissue to other banders. Your cooperation
will help us get bands to those who need them. (Contact person: Sylvia
Windham, 301-497-5805 or e-mail: Sylvia_Windham@usgs.gov). For a copy
of our record of your band inventory, contact Karen_Jones@usgs.gov
(301-497-5794).

11. Potential Plastic Color Band Hazard to
Flycatchers

Recently, a letter was sent to banders authorized to use plastic color
bands on an Empidonax flycatcher or pewee species. Banders
authorized to use plastic bands on these species were asked to change
to metal color bands or dyes. Researchers have reported that these
species may incur injury from plastic color bands. We would like to
call the potential for injury from plastic color bands to the attention
of banders using these markers. If you are currently authorized to use
plastic colored leg bands on an Empidonax flycatcher or pewee
species and did not receive this letter, please contact Mary Gustafson.
Banders of the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher should be in
contact with their regional FWS office regarding the use of plastic
color bands on this endangered subspecies, and follow their
recommendations. Please ensure that your auxiliary marking
authorization is current. Reminder - do not use 2 or more metal bands
on the same tarsus as this will also cause problems.

12. How you can help us

To report banding locations determined by Global Positioning System,
please indicate "determined by GPS" in the alpha location box
on the top of the schedule, please include a near town. The BBL will
not verify locations determined by GPS. GPS locations should be in
degrees and minutes, not degrees and 100ths of degrees.

Please include your permit number on all correspondence, and if you
leave a voice mail message, don't forget to include your phone number.
Please notify us (Florence_Soehnlein@usgs.gov, 301-497-5799) of any
address, phone number, or e-mail changes (including new area codes).
We can now store phone numbers and e-mail addresses for subpermittees.
Rarely will we contact a subpermittee directly, but occasionally there
is a need to do so.

All banding data for 1997 and earlier years is due or overdue
now. Please send schedules as strings are completed throughout the
year. If you need help producing schedules, contact Mary Gustafson. We
regret that we can no longer take data for individual bandings when
there is an encounter. At the time a band is reported to us the
schedule for that band is requested. Your prompt response is always
appreciated.

Recent occurrences of Rufous Hummingbirds in the Southeastern United
States have been documented by hummingbird banders, Bob and Martha
Sargent, and Auburn University professor Geoffrey Hill. (See the AUK
115 (1): 240-245, the January, 1998, issue). In addition to its
thorough documentation and stimulating hypotheses about changes in
migratory behavior, the article is significant in that it represents a
productive collaboration between avocational (Sargents) and vocational
(Hill) banders. (We hesitate to use the terms "amateur" and "professional"
banders because varying degrees of amateurism and professionalism exist
among all categories of banders). We encourage more collaboration
between avocational and vocational banders on projects and
publications. Your regional banding association meetings provide good
opportunities to get together.

GUIDELINES TO THE USE OF WILD BIRDS IN RESEARCH has been updated by
The Ornithological Council (1997, Abbot S. Gaunt and Lewis W. Oring,
eds.). The GUIDELINES contain much useful and contemporary information
on techniques used by banders. In particular, we recommend that banders
follow the GUIDELINES when taking blood samples for DNA and other
analyses.